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Weekly Answers, Pt. 3

Check out the latest batch of weekly answers…1) Jon – NCAA women’s softball championship. Is it really a big deal? And if yes, then why did you not go and cover it in person? Please explain? – low caliber
Yes, it’s a very big deal. Did not travel because of budget reasons and other responsibilities. I’ll be traveling to Omaha if the Bruins make it though.

2) The long-standing rule is “no cheering in the press box.” So how is it that radio personality Vic the Brick Jacobs is allowed to attend NBA playoffs press conferences decked out in full Lakers regalia? – Anonymous
I just kinda think it’s an LA thing. No other way to put it really. It’s pretty comical. If you take him for what he is, I think he’s a hoot.

3) Do you think Masoli is really “kicked off” the team, or will Kelly keep him in the back pocket just in case the Ducks struggle (See Blount, LaGarrette)? – Peter
Oh, he’s off. For good.

5) It took the LA Times three days after Wooden’s death to come up with an article attacking him, rehashing the Sam Gilbert insinuations. Appropriate timing?
I thought it was a very fair article to write, and Chris Dufresne is a fantastic writer. I would’ve waited a bit longer, but you cannot ignore that part of history. Sports fans like to think journalism is more than chronicling history, but it really isn’t. And Sam Gilbert, like it or not, is 100 percent a part of UCLA’s history.

Jon, is there anything slightly or even remotely sinister, disparaging, or questionable in your past as either a person or employee that we can dig up and then write a salacious article about? Would we have to wait until you die before we could publish it? Just asking.

TeddyC

I agree that Gilbert is a part of the UCLA basketball history, but the timing of the article was quite shameful. What purpose did that serve within days of Coach Wooden’s passing? It came off as a hatchet job with very little journalistic relevance. The stories are out there and have been for ~40 yrs. Nothing remotely new was presented. True or not it was spitting on the memory of recently deceased legend. There is a time and a place to delve into the sketchy sides of history but this was certainly not it.

Anonymous

I cut off my 25 year-old subscription with the Trojan Times over this article – “hatchet job” is absolutely the correct phrase for it. Sorry, Jon – but this guy Dufresne has no journalistic integrity whatsoever. Spitting on Coach’s grave before he’s even buried? I sent him an e-mail detailing my reasons for unsubscribing and left him this link, which, if you haven’t read it yet, should be required reading for you as well before you pass judgment on Dufresne’s drivel:

It’s the best level-headed assessment of Gilbert’s involvement in UCLA athletics that I’ve ever read.

FYI someone over at Bruins Nation reportedly got an e-mail back from Dufresne in which he admitted he’d been pressured into writing the piece by his boss.

Anonymous

It is not also true that Sam Gilbert was 100% part of USC football.

Anonymous

No one is saying Sam Gilbert was not around. What Dufresne says is that Wooden knew about it and did nothing to stop it. In other words, he called Wooden a cheater. In additional, Dufresne said the only reason he wrote the article was because his boss made him.

2ndGenBruin

That did it. I’ll never read your rag again. That hit piece on Coach was mean-spirited and the timing could not have been worse. The fact that you agree with it and have defended it speaks volumes about you as a person. I hope you get fired and they get a decent replacement for Dohn. I still am shocked that you would defend it with such vigor. Repeating innuendos and rumors 40 years old is tasteless, and low brow. Where are your manners? You have none. Or any common sense either.

Boston Bruin

Mr. Gold,

Thanks for the supercilious answer to Dufresne’s hatchet job on Coach. The question was …”Appropriate timing?”

So you go into reporter fraternity mode and offer the ‘balanced’ “I thought it was a very fair article to write, and Chris Dufresne is a fantastic writer.” The questioner didn’t ask your opinion on that journeyman’s talent.

You go on to state: “I would’ve waited a bit longer…”

What is a bit longer? Until the day of his funeral? Until his body is interred? In relevant time how long is ‘a bit?’ Precision journalism at its best!

Then you again see a need to support Hatchman Dufrensne’s article with, “but you cannot ignore that part of history.”

Who is ignoring Sam Gilbert’s part in UCLA BB history? Where are all the Gilbert supporter’s coming out of the woodwork?

The outcry is that in this time of honoring a man’s legacy as a teacher and a person, craven hacks see a need to throw water on the wake and imply that Coach Wooden knowingly allowed Gilbert to give gifts to the players. The LA Times tried to make that connection in the 1970s and failed. The NCAA looked into the matter and found no direct connection. Only anti-Wooden or anti-UCLA zealots continue to drag out the disproven allegations about Coach.

Your last desperate attempt to defend Duf the D-bag, you write, “Sports fans like to think journalism is more than chronicling history, but it really isn’t.” and apparently your iteration of journalism isn’t about allowing grieving and honoring a man to take place before wanting to ensure a balanced view (as erroneous as the implications are) if offered.
By the way, you better be careful, another one of your fraternity is gunning for anyone who tries to tie Wooden and Gilbert together. S.I.’s Rick Reilly stated he will punch anyone in the nose if they continue to spread such lies. So be careful when rolling with Dufresne’s posse

BE REAL

The world is full of hypocrites, especially among sports fans, who love to cowardly dish it out but are not man enough to ‘take it.’

I always contended that Wooden’s true story would come out only after he was dead. This was out of respect for him while he lived. The time to put out the story is– now. Nobody outside a few family members and friends will remember him, or any of us other mortals for that matter, after a few days. ‘Life’ after death becomes old news rather quickly.

The obits of fallen souls are not always replete with flowery portrayals, especially if they were a public figure.

Wooden is fortunate that 4-years and over 100 interviews (like with Bushgate) were not taken covering the Wooden-Gilbert marriage. The “investigation” at that time was cursory at best. Lack of control over star athletes was at the heart of the SC sanctions. Those Wooden teams were filled with star athletes who admittedly received many many benefits outlawed by the NCAA

It is interesting how bruins are so sanctimonious about their icon, but yet don’t hesitate for one second to throw dirt on SC’s icon, Pete Carroll. Neither Wooden nor Carroll was accused of having actual knowledge, although in truth that is hard to believe.

BruinFaithful

BE RAL:

Your other icon, John Robinson, is coaching again, defense, for the San Marino HS. I am always so moved by your schools mantra, “Once a Trojan, always a Trojan”. I believe San Marino’s mascot is the Titans. CHEAT ON!!!!

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